The Last Mission
by libra-gurl
Summary: One Shot: Xelloss's last mission from Xellas - will he be able to carry it out? I really suck at summaries but please R&R!


Author's Note: Well, this is basically a one-shot where Xelloss is ordered to kill Lina by Xellas and the rest, you can figure it out. I'm not planning on doing a continuation of this one or anything, it just came across me and I thought it was interesting, so I did it. Sorry for any grammatical errors, I was half-asleep while I'm writing this and if I didn't check them thoroughly, sorry. Reviews are appreciated, as usual, since I wrote this thinking of the readers. This is from Xelloss's point of view, but there are time when it's Lina's point of view, so you can figure it out. I hope you're not going to kill me over this fic, lol. I'm notorious for making a bad one.  
  
The time finally came. The finality of it all makes Xelloss cringed, but he walked slowly forward to Xellas.  
  
"Yes, mistress?" He knew what was coming. He didn't need to ask. The satisfied smile on Xellas's lips and the shine in her eyes already told him what's going to happen to the famous sorceress of all time.  
  
"I assumed that you know what you're called here for," Xellas said, eyeing Xelloss carefully.  
  
"Well, of course," Xelloss said, nodding and bowing a little. "I merely need a confirmation."  
  
"Oh, I hardly think you need it," Xellas said, waving her hand in the air carelessly. She smiles cruelly, showing Xelloss several of her perfect gleaming teeth. "But in case you really need to hear it in words to really, ahh, confirm it, this is your order. You are to find Lina Inverse and her lot and you are to ask them for co-operation for this (Xellas smirked) mission. Of course you do know what to do when you do find her. This mission will not fail. The final step is to be completed by you, Xelloss. I expect no less from you."  
  
***  
  
Xelloss arrived on Earth only a few seconds later, looking around for his fellow "comrades" while searching for the Claire Bible and going against the Ancient Dragons. He spotted Lina, devouring over a particularly big meal, fighting with Gourry for every last bite. Amelia can be seen eating quite fast, but not as fast compared to Lina's record speed. Zelgadis, of course, will always act as the calm man.  
  
"I see you still haven't changed."  
  
Lina looked up, not really surprised, but her eyes widened nonetheless at the sight of Xelloss. "Hey! Want to taste some dragon meat? What are you doing here anyway?" she questioned him, tearing on a dragon's skin as she talked.  
  
Typical Lina Inverse. "I've come here to, ahh, complete a mission. It'll be done very quickly of course."  
  
"Don't tell me that you need our co-operation," Zelgadis said, glaring at Xelloss. "Usually it doesn't end well."  
  
Xelloss just grinned his mysterious grin. "Well, I will certainly need your co-operation, but it's not what you think it will be."  
  
"How many years have it been, purple head?" Gourry said, raising his eyebrows. "Wait, your name isn't purple head..."  
  
Lina sighed. "No, Gourry, that's not his name," she said exasperatedly. She had gotten tired of bonking Gourry on the head, it seems. She still has the violent fire in her eyes every time Gourry showed any sign of stupidity. She turned to him, her eyes intent. "And what kind of co-operation is this, exactly? And what good will it get us?"  
  
"Sore wa himitsu desu!"  
  
"Of course," Lina sighed. "I should've guessed."  
  
***  
  
When evening came, the gang had traveled quite far, somewhere in the suburbs. "I say we camp out here tonight," Lina suggested.  
  
Amelia nodded. "I'll set it up." Of course, that's typical Amelia - she's always the one who has to do everything. Not because she wanted to, but because she has to. Lina would never be seen carrying a large baggage. Gourry might drop the baggage along the way thinking that it was trash. Zelgadis is too cool to be seen carrying a baggage. That left Amelia, who's the Queen of Justice, ever so willing to do almost everything she's asked to.  
  
Zelgadis sighed. "At least we'll have water." Zelgadis looked to his right, where a lake is situated.  
  
Lina grinned. "We should've stopped at a place where they'll have a hot water bath!"  
  
"And you'll be paying for it," Zelgadis said, looking at Lina wryly.  
  
Xelloss just smiled from above. Looks like things are going according to plan. Tonight would do it. He had no doubt that Zelgadis, Amelia and Gourry wouldn't agree to this "co-operation" and would be helping Lina to survive, so he had expected that. He won't even be surprised if Lina agrees to fight him for her life. That's just typical Lina. Which is why Xelloss enjoyed his journeys with them so much.  
  
But that wasn't the point. Xellas had appointed him to go with them because she knows that he could be trusted. That he would be the one to carry out the plan and it will all work out perfectly in the end, no matter how many obstacles he has. And in the end he always succeeded. Xelloss's eyes hardened. The sun is setting.  
  
Amelia's tent wasn't impressive, but it was the least the Slayers' gang could do. And so they complied. Lina boiled some water for the night and stared out at the lake, which is reflecting the sunset now. The view is amazing. But Xelloss wasn't here to see the sunset. He has a mission.  
  
He sat besides Lina. "Lina. The time has come."  
  
Lina raised her eyebrows. "You're not very informative are you?"  
  
"No, I'm not," Xelloss agreed.  
  
"Very vague, too," Lina said, smirking.  
  
Xelloss just grinned his trademark grin. "Yes, well, that makes me roguish you see?"  
  
Lina just laughs. The rare few time that Lina had laughed at one of his sentences or at anyone's jokes, really, is precious. So Xelloss stored that image in his mind. One last laugh from the famous sorceress whom everybody feared. Even the mazoku feared Lina; this is probably why Xelloss is now sent to kill her.  
  
Xelloss's grin quickly turns into a scowl. "Tonight. Be alert."  
  
Before Lina could even question what he's saying, he teleported.  
  
***  
  
He teleported again at the camp just to find Lina and the rest of the gang wide awake, a glare in their eyes. Lina, especially, looked fierce in the glare of the moonlight. "Well, we're wide awake," Lina said dryly. "And why exactly are you paying us a surprise visit?"  
  
"Like I said," Xelloss claimed calmly, gripping his staff tighter. "The time has come."  
  
And with that, Xelloss had moved very quickly - people will be unable to see his movements - and stride towards Lina. Lina hadn't been very prepared for this, but her reflex was as smooth as ever. She jumped out of his way just in time to figure out that he's attacking her for obvious reasons.  
  
"Oh, the time has definitely come," Lina said, the glare in her eyes now even brighter. "I was waiting for this." And it certainly looked like she had. After all, she wasn't the most famous sorceress for nothing if she can't figure out what the mazoku had been planning to do all these years.  
  
"Yes, well," Xelloss said, smiling. "You see, Lina, you're the only obstacle in our way right now, and we just have to simply get rid of you. You've helped us loads with the Claire Bible and the Ancient Dragon and everything, even taking care of the Dark Star nonsense. It had been a very particular plan, that one. We didn't think you'd be so co-operative, and we were right. But in the end, it all ended up fine. Dark Star was obliterated."  
  
"But your service for us has come to an end."  
  
Lina smirked. "If you think all the things I did was for your benefit, you're wrong."  
  
Gourry had already taken out his sword. Amazing how dumb he can seem but he never miss a battle scent in the air.  
  
Lina looked at Gourry and smiles at Gourry just as he smiled back. "Well, I might as well fight now that we've come to this stage, right?" she said, turning back to Xelloss, who were watching the whole scenario and feeling a weird sensation in his stomach. Probably nausea. Mazoku never really deal well with good vibes and emotions. "But before I get attacked, may I know what you're really planning on doing after I die? Which I won't, by the way."  
  
Xelloss just raised an eyebrow. "Oh, you won't now, will you?" he said. "Well, it doesn't matter, we'll see in the end. Anyway. This has been our plan for a long time. Basically we get all the dark lords out of our way or we can get them to be our ally. The ones you defeated are, obviously, the idiots who didn't want to share power. So you got them out of our way."  
  
Lina rolled her eyes. "Oh, and what did I get from all those?" she said sarcastically. "Nothing! Not even money."  
  
Of course she would mention money. She always does. And for that, Xelloss grinned. "Well, time's up, I really have to get going to another death ceremony. We'll get over this quickly now, won't we?"  
  
Lina's eyes hardened and she narrowed them. "If you think you can kill me as easily as you can kill the rest, you're very much mistaken."  
  
And with that, the battle began, four against one. The Slayers' gang against Xelloss. Xelloss loves the air in the night - so full of hatred and battle aura. He suspected that Lina had seen this coming. After all, she had known not to trust a mazoku.  
  
"Fireball!" Lina shouted.  
  
Xelloss teleported out of the way, wondering what Lina's planning - of course a normal fireball won't work on him. He could just hide in the astral plane while all the attacks are thrown at him and he'll still be without scratches after Lina finishes.  
  
A few fireballs were thrown from Amelia and Zelgadis while Gourry rushes off to battle with him. Xelloss is amused - surely Lina isn't thinking that these people would actually beat him? None of Lina's spell could really beat him. Except for Dragon Slave and Giga Slave, but Xelloss could withstand a few Dragon Slaves and Lina certainly wouldn't be in a hurry to use Giga Slave after the Dark Star episode.  
  
"...Power that can smash even the souls of the gods! RAGNA BLADE!!!"  
  
...Well, okay, except for that spell.  
  
A blade of some sort that looked like a lightning between Lina's hands are gleaming and Xelloss quickly tried to think of something. Gaav had been injured by the very same spell and he's not going to wait around to find out whether he could withstand the blade or not.  
  
Lina rushes off towards him, swinging it violently - it almost hit Xelloss's head, but at the last minute, Xelloss swing backward. It did hit Xelloss's shoulder. "Shoot," Xelloss muttered under his breath.  
  
Lina gives a satisfied smile after she heard that. "Not so confident anymore, are you now?"  
  
No, I'm not, thought Xelloss. But of course he's never going to admit that out loud. But his shoulder is bleeding. He needed to get this over with fast, he has no time to play around. "Ready or not," he singsonged, even with his shoulder ripped off, "here I come!"  
  
"Oh, how cliche," Lina said, rolling her eyes. Even in times of danger, Lina never failed to lose one or two sarcastic comments. Lina rushes off to attack him again and Xelloss avoided her just in time, once again, to withstand the attack. He knows that he's just buying time for his recovery - besides, he knows that Lina could never hold the Ragna Blade long enough to really hurt him out of his oblivion, so he will wait.  
  
Lina is beginning to show signs that she's getting tired - the Ragna Blade takes a lot of energy out of a person, and Lina knows that well, yet she still wanted to use the spell. It's one of the only spells that will hurt a mazoku. The only two will definitely hurt them, but Dragon Slave is avoidable and it wouldn't quicken a mazoku's death, and Giga Slave is just too much to risk. After all, Xelloss is not on the same level as Dark Star.  
  
But Lina wasn't too sure about that. For all she knows, Xelloss could really be behind all this mastermind and he's just letting some invinsible people take all the credits - invisible people who don't exist... But Lina doesn't have time for that right now. With one last strength that she has to hold the Ragna Blade, she swung forward the blade and tries with all her might to hit Xelloss.  
  
Xelloss flinches as the Blade manages to scratch his face a little. The spell is powerful, there's no doubt about that, but he doesn't have to worry about it anymore. Looks like Lina's finally at her limits with the blade. It's gone from her hand and she's panting heavily and sweating profusely. She glared at Xelloss through narrowed eyes.  
  
"Ahh, now that wasn't so bad," Xelloss said, smiling. He looked at Zelgadis, Amelia and Gourry; three people whom had become the decorating wallpapers of this whole epic. "Well, shall I finish off them first, Lina?"  
  
Lina glared at him even more fiercely. "Sure, but I don't think you can, because you'll be dead by then," she said through gritted teeth, muttering under her breath.  
  
Xelloss's eyes focused on Lina's lips' movement. If he's not mistaken, the spell that she's muttering under her breath doesn't really seem like a Dragon Slave or a Giga Slave but he could never be sure. "Ray Wing!" Lina said and floated above Xelloss. Xelloss smirked. Another tactic to scare the wits out of him, huh? It worked for a while.  
  
While Xelloss was distracted, Amelia and Zelgadis both had launched Elmekia Lance on him. Xelloss cursed and tried to get out of the way but wasn't in time. The spell hit him but he wasn't severely injured. White magic manages to injure mazoku, but not as serious as a Ragna Blade could. Still, Xelloss don't want to be injured at all if he could help it, which seems to be impossible now.  
  
Xelloss swung his staff and Amelia and Zelgadis were pushed back by an invisible wind. Amelia hit a rock and fell unconscious, just like that. Zelgadis still managed to cast a spell of "Dug Haut" before he fell unconscious. A big boulder of rock came out of the ground and hits Xelloss in the face.  
  
"Those who oppose us shall be destroyed by the power you and I possess! DRAGON SLAVE!"  
  
Xelloss's eyes widened as the impact of the Dragon Slave spell fell upon him. He should've seen this coming. What he should have seen is that Gourry is poised to attack him after he takes his fall from the Dragon Slave too. Still, Xelloss wasn't unskilled or he wouldn't have been taken under Xellas's wing. He swiftly avoided the attack and shot out a blast from his hands so that the Sword of Light was blasted out of Gourry's hand. "Dammit!" he heard Gourry shouted.  
  
"GOURRY!" Lina screamed.  
  
Too late. Xelloss had launched an attack on Gourry and now Gourry is rendered unconscious, just like Amelia and Zelgadis. Xelloss smirked in satisfaction. "Well. Looks like it's just the both of us, eh, Lina?" Xelloss said, smiling his trademark smile. Too mysterious for anyone to dechipher.  
  
"Looks like it," Lina said grimly, eyeing her unconscious friends. "You sure know how to pack a punch."  
  
"Yes, I do," Xelloss agreed, grinning. "Well, now that you've lost your breath for those two strong spells, why not just co-operate with me here?"  
  
"Oh, Xelloss, don't you know me yet?" Lina said, half playful, half exasperated. "After all the fight that I've put up, I would've think that you'd actually know I won't back down just as easily as you'd want me too. I'm not an Inverse for nothing. My sister will kill me if she knows I didn't fight for my life."  
  
"Honorable motto to live by," Xelloss said, nodding, managing to keep a totally straight face, but he's grinning anyway. "But I'm afraid it's a bit foolish." He rushed forward and attacked Lina at the side of her stomach, rendering Lina breathless. Lina is not backing down, however; even when she's out of breath, she manages to cast a spell of fireball. From a distance, it won't hurt a mazoku, but at a close distance, it won't do him any good either.  
  
The spell hit his already bleeding shoulder and he toppled over, but he quickly got on his feet, watching Lina's movements closely. To see any sign of backing down or defeat. Nope. Not yet, anyway. Xelloss will make sure that Lina will get killed no matter what. He will complete his orders. Lina gritted her teeth and gathered a source of power in her hand. Xelloss recognized the stance well and widened his eyes voluntarily.  
  
"Are you sure you want to do that, Lina?" Xelloss said, almost playfully.  
  
Lina smiles icily. "Yes, very."  
  
"But I could always teleport back into the astral plane and the spell would be useless," Xelloss said, shrugging. "In fact, you might even be possessed by the Lord of Nightmares again and then you will cause chaos." He gave it an afterthought. "Which, of course, might not be too bad considering the mazoku's plan is along the same lines."  
  
Lina's eyes narrowed for the umpteenth time. "Are you tyring to get me to use the Giga Slave to let Lord of Nightmares gain my body again?" she said suspiciously. "But I thought the mazoku's wouldn't want to share their power with anyone else, even if it is with the Lord of Nightmares."  
  
"Really, Lina, you're brilliant sometimes it scares me," Xelloss said, grinning. At least Lina hadn't chanted the spell yet. "In fact, that's the reason you had to be disposed off. You're too brilliant. Creating all those powerful spells that could get rid of the entire world had you want it to. The mazoku's don't appreciate powerful magic being handed over to a mere sorceress."  
  
Lina's eyes sparkled. "Yes, well, a mere sorceress with a flat chest," she said, smiling. "What bad luck you have."  
  
"My, Lina, you actually made fun of your own chest!" Xelloss grinned. He launched into another attack.  
  
Lina had readied herself for this and had chant a spell to cast a barrier around her for only a short while. She's tired and the barrier won't last that long. Xelloss didn't figure out that Lina would actually put a barrier against herself - he had thought she's casting the Giga Slave spell. It's merely defensive. But of course, she's willing to risk a Giga Slave or two. In fact, that's exactly what she's doing now.  
  
"Darkness beyond blackest pitch, deeper than the deepest night!" she began chanting.  
  
She could see the change in Xelloss's features. Xelloss didn't think she was being serious - she was. She's not about to killed, dammit. Especially not by a fruitcake like Xellos! If she's killed, what will happen to the heroine? Who will really return the chaos back into calmness? No, she couldn't afford dying yet.  
  
"Lord of Darkness, shining like gold upon the Sea of Chaos, I call upon thee!" she continued, enjoying the look of fear of Xelloss's eyes. So letting the Lord of Nightmares possessing her body had not been the mazoku's plan at all - in fact, it looked like Xelloss is mentally punishing himself because he's not supposed to let Lina use the Giga Slave.  
  
"Swear myself to thee! Let the fools who stand before us be destroyed by the power you and I possess!" And with a last fleeting image of Amelia, Zelgadis and Gourry's faces, she finishes off the spell with one last line:  
  
"GIGA SLA-!"  
  
Blood came out of her choked mouth. She had not completed the spell. A staff is actually poking through her body. And blood splattered everywhere, even on Xelloss's magnified face, which showed little emotion, except maybe for fear. His fear quickly turned into a mixture of relief and probably nausea. Disgusted that he had killed Lina by his own hands. He'd probably wanted to get it over with and comes out of the battle clean. Lina managed a choked laugh.  
  
"Looks like you got dirty," she said slowly, managing to sound like herself at least.  
  
Xelloss's eyes narrowed and for the first time in her life, Lina really remembered all her friends and all the journeys she had travelled through with all of them. With a great shuddering breath and more blood, Lina remembered the faces of her friends: Sylpheel, Martina, Filia, Zangulus, Amelia, Zelgadis... and Gourry. How many journeys had she survived with them fighting off the dark lords? And now she's being killed by a low standard mazoku.  
  
She took one last breath and fell limp on the ground, the staff still poking out of her body.  
  
Xelloss took the staff out of her quickly and looked at the damage that he had done. The surroundings are of course shattered to pieces and all the bodies around him should make him feel ecstatic. Except that it didn't. For the first time in his life, Xelloss felt completely nonplused by all the damage that he had caused. Instead he was quite emotionless; it is unlike him not to be happy after he had managed to actually defeat some of the greatest sorcerers and sorceresses or even swordsmen.  
  
He picked up Gourry's body and put it near Amelia's and Zelgadis's body. Surely they had not died yet. Just unconscious. They would wake up later on to find out that one of their precious friends had died. And they would probably seek revenge on Xelloss's body for as long as they live. Especially Gourry.  
  
Xelloss stepped back to Lina and carried her in all her bloody mess and put her on a more comfortable ground - not that it matters, since she's dead now. He slowly laid her body down on the ground next to Gourry. This has all been very interesting. He had carried out Xellas's plan perfectly - no doubt that he's going to be even more famous among the mazoku world for killing the little sorceress that has caused fear and chaos among mazoku's. And yet he felt nothing. He was sure he would never feel anything once the subject is discussed in the mazoku's world. After all, mazoku's are incapable of feelings and emotions in the first place.  
  
That's when he realized he's crying.  
  
Author's Note: Douuuu? How was it? Was it okay? Was it sad? Was it really stupid that you felt like killing me for wasting a few minutes of your time? Well, either way, please review! ^_^;; 


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